Untying the Knot
by godlygirl34
Summary: After 4 years of marriage, Jackson and Cruz are hitting a rough patch in their relationship. When Cruz begins to endure physical abuse, she wonders who she can turn to in this desperate time. Will she be able to weather the storm and make it out alive or will this situation weigh her down in a pit of emotional despair? (Humanized, lifetime style drama with Cars characters).


**A/N:** Hello everyone! I'm going to tell you right off the bat that this is not your normal Cars fanfic. This is a deeply emotional story which covers a serious topic. Before reading, here are some ground rules: the italics represent the internal thoughts of Cruz (seeing that this story is told from her point of view), the horizontal lines indicate a change in scenes, and if you love dramatic soap operas or films, you are bound to love this story. Hope you enjoy!

* * *

 _Did I make a mistake? Are we going to make it through this? He is not the man that I married four years ago. We were never like this. What went wrong?_

Cruz's thoughts were interrupted as she heard the front door slam shut. Jackson came barreling into the house, throwing his keys on the key rack and slamming his coat on the coat rack. Cruz was in the kitchen cooking dinner when she felt the tension that Jackson brought into their home. She didn't bother to look up from the pot she was stirring. She knew that he was in one of his moods. Jackson's footsteps pierced the ground as he made his way into the kitchen. Cruz stirred the pot intensely. As she heard him getting closer, her heart began to pound rapidly. Beads of sweat formed on her forehead as he passed her by without saying a word. He opened the refrigerator with all his might, as if he was going to rip the entire door off. Cruz looked up from the pot and watched as her husband aggressively searched for food. He gave a loud grunt as he slammed the door.

"I'm making dinner. It should be ready in a few minutes," Cruz said in a timid tone.

Jackson didn't even care to respond. He made his way over to the cabinet and pulled out a box of cereal. Cruz looked at him in shock as he poured milk on top of the cereal.

"Jackson, I said I'm making dinner," she said with a huff.

"I heard you. I'm just really hungry right now and I don't know how long you're going to take," he said as he shoved a spoonful of cereal into his mouth.

"It will be ready in a few minutes," she said as she rolled her eyes.

"You know what? You can make that dinner for yourself. I'm already having mine."

"Are you serious? I came home early just to cook this for us and now you don't want it? I'm making some paella. Isn't that your favorite?"

"Are you trying to butter me up after what happened today?" he said as he slammed the bowl onto the counter.

"What are you talking about?"

"You know it's funny, ever since you showed up at the Florida 500, I haven't been winning like I used to."

"Are you serious Jackson? We've been married for four years now. Are you going to allow something as stupid as this to ruin our relationship?" Cruz said as she lowered the fire on the stove.

"It wouldn't be so stupid if you were in my shoes now would it?!" he yelled as he slammed the bowl into the sink.

Cruz put both hands on her forehead. She took a deep breath and began to follow Jackson into the living room. He was sitting on the couch, watching some football. He turned the volume up so loud that the neighbors across the street could hear.

"Jackson, we're not done with this conversation. Jackson!" Cruz yelled.

He didn't pay any attention to her. He just turned the volume up higher.

 _You know what? Enough is enough!_

Cruz angrily marched over to the television and unplugged the cable box. Jackson immediately stood up from the couch and stomped up to her.

"Are you kidding me?!" he yelled.

"No I'm not! We need to continue this conversation."

"What's there to continue?"

"Come on Jackson. Does me winning bother you that much?"

"I am not doing this with you," he said as he started to walk away.

Cruz followed him back into the kitchen, attempting to block him from leaving.

"Cruz I need you to move."

"No! I don't know about you, but I care about this marriage. I am willing to make it work but I can't do this by myself. I need to know what the problem is."

"You want to know what the problem is? My racing career is going down the toilet because you keep bringing home the trophies! You are currently the sole breadwinner in this house because you keep earning money for every win!"

"That is ridiculous! You always finish in the top ten!"

"Cruz, you don't get it! I'm always coming behind you. I don't care about being in the top ten. I want to be on top and that's all that matters."

Cruz shook her head in disbelief. Is he seriously putting his career before them?

"Jackson, I thought we agreed that this wouldn't be an issue. When we first got married, we agreed not to let our careers get in the way of our love for each other."

"Yes we did. Now that I think about it, I should've thought this through before I decided to do propose to you in the first place. I don't know why I ever thought that this would work out."

His words cut through her soul like a blade cutting through a piece of raw meat. Tears formed in her eyes as she desperately tried to hold them back. The rage boiled in her chest as she raised her hand and slapped him across the face. She slapped him so hard that he almost lost his balance. The tears flowed fast down Cruz's cheeks.

"Did you just slap me?!" he yelled as he moved closer to Cruz.

She knows that look. That look of sheer hatred always came before the pain. She tried to run to the bedroom but her efforts were futile. As she turned her back to him, he grabbed both of her arms and shoved her into the kitchen cabinets. He slammed her head up against the edge of the cabinets, causing her to fall to the ground. Her breathing was shaky as she covered her face with both hands. She began to sob uncontrollably, barely lifting herself off the floor.

"Oh my God! I'm so sorry baby," Jackson said as he rushed over to help Cruz up.

"Get away from me! Don't touch me!" she said as she shoved him away with one arm.

Jackson quickly made his way to the front door. He grabbed his coat and keys and left the house. He left Cruz on the kitchen floor, holding her face in agony. This was just like any other evening.

* * *

That night, Cruz laid awake in her bed. The right side of her face was swollen. She also received a black eye and a bloody nose. The swelling went down after a few ice packs were placed on her face, but the image that she saw in the mirror haunted her memories. She didn't recognize that girl with the bruised eye and swollen face. This was not the life she dreamed of when she became Mrs. Storm. She didn't know if Jackson came back home, but at the moment, she didn't care.

 _I can't live like this anymore. This man is going to kill me._

She immediately sat up in bed and grabbed her cellphone from the night stand. She looked through her contact list and found her mother's number. Just as she was about to hit the call button, she heard footsteps downstairs in the living room.

 _He's home. I can't call my mother anyway. She's all the way in Texas. I need someone closer to me._

It finally hit her. She scrolled through her contact list and found her mentor's number. She tapped the messaging button and opened a new inbox. She stared blankly at the screen. She hasn't spoken to Lightning in a long time. A few years before she and Storm got married, he retired as her crew chief and married Sally. The last time they spoke, they were saying their goodbyes. The King is her current crew chief while Lightning is off enjoying his life in Radiator Springs. He has his own racing academy where he taught aspiring rookies all of his techniques. When he wasn't doing that, he was participating in charity races to earn more money for Rusteze and local organizations. They texted each other often, but when Jackson started beating Cruz, she cut all communication from everyone she cared about. Lightning still called and left her multiple concerned voice mails. Cruz didn't want to avoid him, but her problem felt too heavy for her to handle. She didn't want to place that burden on anyone else, especially Lightning. After staring at the screen for five minutes, she finally decided to type her message:

 **CRUZ:** Hey Mr. McQueen! I know it's been a while, but I have an emergency and I really need to talk to you.

 _Would he even respond?_

She waited for a few minutes but there was no response. Just as she was about to go to sleep, the phone vibrated. She sat up straight in the bed. She frantically unlocked the phone to read her new message:

 **LIGHTNING:** Hey Cruz what's going on?

 _Oh my gosh, he actually responded! Well duh! The word 'emergency' had a lot to do with it._

 **CRUZ:** Do you have any plans for lunch tomorrow?

 _Way to go Cruz, now he probably thinks that you texted him just to have a lunch date or something._

Her heart was beating fast as she saw the iMessage dots appear on the screen. She didn't hear anymore movement from downstairs. She slowly got up from the bed and peeked through the door. All the lights were off and Jackson was fast asleep on the couch. She rushed back to the bed to see that she got a new message:

 **LIGHTNING:** I could clear my calendar for tomorrow. What's the emergency?

 _Should I tell him right now?_

Her hands were shaking as she typed her text:

 **CRUZ:** I think it's better if we discuss it over lunch. You still remember our usual spot?

 **LIGHTNING:** Cruz you're scaring me. And yes I remember.

 **CRUZ:** Great! See you at 12 then?

 **LIGHTNING:** Yes I'll see you then.

 **CRUZ:** Good night!

Cruz turned her phone off and placed in on the night stand. She turned over and tried to fall asleep. She knew that Lightning would freak out about this. How was she going to tell him about this horrible situation?

* * *

 _Who is this person in the mirror staring back at me?_

Cruz barely glanced at her reflection as she tried to cover up her black eye with some concealer. Tears streamed down her cheeks as the bristles of the brush stung against her swollen eye. Jackson left for the morning. He wanted to go down to the race track and get in some practice laps before the next race. She glanced at her phone seeing that it was already 11:30. She quickly combed her hair and slathered some lipstick on her lips. She ran down the stairs and slipped into her heels. She wore a long sleeved blouse and put her floppy sun hat on her head. She rushed to the body mirror near the front door and made sure that the black eye was hidden under the hat. She rushed out of the house and got in her car.

 _I hope Mr. McQueen isn't too upset about me being late. Who am I kidding? He'll be even more upset once I tell him about this._

A few moments later, Cruz arrived at the small diner that she and Lightning often went to. Although it wasn't fancy or well known, it was still their secret place. There in that cozy diner, they had the freedom to be themselves. When they wanted to escape from the paparazzi, they would always find themselves sitting at their usual table by the window, having endless conversations.

Things would be different this time. Cruz slowly made her way to the front of the diner where she saw Lightning sitting at their usual table. She took a deep, shaky breath as she walked through the front doors. The world around her was spinning. Every step she took made her head feel dizzy. She saw Lightning wearing his blue, "Fabulous Lightning McQueen" jacket as his back was facing her. She finally walked up to him and tapped him on the shoulder.

"Hey Cruz!" he said as he stood up to give her a hug.

"Hi Mr. McQueen. Thanks for coming by the way," she said as she sat down at the table.

"No problem. So, how's married life treating you?" he said, taking a sip of his coffee.

Cruz looked down at her lap. She bit her lip and pulled the sleeves down over her fingers. Her foot was tapping rapidly, as if she had a nervous twitch. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

"It's treating me," she said as she pulled the hat down over her eyes.

Lightning was obviously confused. "What is that supposed to mean?" he asked as he raised his eyebrows.

 _Come on Cruz. It's now or never._

"Well, that's why I asked you to meet me here. I-"

"Hello guys, may I take your orders?" a waitress asked, cutting Cruz off.

"Um can you give us a few minutes?" Lightning asked as he saw how uncomfortable Cruz looked.

"Sure take your time," the waitress said as she walked away.

"What were you saying now?" Lightning asked as he gave Cruz a concerned look.

His mature, blue eyes penetrated her soul. Her vision became blurry as she swallowed the lump in her throat.

"Cruz what happened? Talk to me."

She took another shaky breath. "Well I asked you to come here because Jackson and I aren't doing too well."

Lightning sat up straight in his chair. "What's going on?"

Cruz bit her lip and pulled her sleeves down even more. Her eyes were moist and her breaths were getting shorter by the minute.

"Mr. McQueen, I want to show you something but you have to promise me that you won't freak out."

"I can't make any promises. By the way you're talking, it sounds very serious."

She could see how stern his face was. He was already upset before she even told him anything. Cruz put both hands on the table with her palms facing up. She rolled up both sleeves slowly, revealing the red rings around her wrists and the bruises on her forearms. Lighting was stunned. He was in so much shock that he couldn't even bring himself to blink. After a few minutes of sheer silence, Lightning gently brushed his fingers over the bruises on her arm.

"Cruz, did he do this to you?!" Lightning said as he fumed with anger.

Cruz nodded as she took off her hat, revealing the black eye and swollen cheeks. Lightning's mouth dropped. He ran his hands through his auburn hair, balled both of his hands into fists and banged them on the table.

"Mr. McQueen calm down."

"Calm down?! How long has this been going on?!" he yelled as all the customers and staff looked in their direction.

"Mr. McQueen you are making a scene," Cruz whispered as she bowed her head in embarrassment.

"How long Cruz?!" he yelled again.

Tears fell down her cheeks. "This has been going on for two years now," she said as she started to sob.

"No, no, no! Cruz, why didn't you say anything?"

"I knew you would act like this," she said, wiping her tears.

"Let's take this outside," he said as he took some money out of his wallet to pay for the coffee. He left the money on the table and stormed out of the diner with Cruz following behind. He brought her to a park bench, away from the people that were buzzing around on the busy streets.

"Cruz why didn't you tell me anything?" he asked, choking back some of his own tears.

She tried to speak through the sobs. She started breathing heavily as her vision blurred again. Lightning took her hand in his and gently rubbed her knuckles.

"It's alright Cruz. I just need you to tell me what happened," he said in a softer tone.

"I didn't want you to worry. You seemed so happy with your life. I didn't want to-"

"Stop! Stop it right there. I don't care how happy I am, I will put my entire life on hold just to help you and make sure that you are okay. This is a serious issue Cruz. It doesn't matter what's going on in my life, once you're in danger I will drop everything and help you in the best way that I can. You should know this by now."

"I get that Mr. McQueen. It wasn't this bad at first. Jackson would have his moments and sometimes I would get in the way of his tantrums. I just thought that this would blow over by now," she said as she wiped her tears.

"Cruz, these situations never blow over! They only get _worse_ ," he said as he got up from the bench.

"Where are you going?"

"We are going to go to your house. I want you to pack up all your things. You are going to stay in Radiator Springs until we can sort this thing out. Come on," he said as he walked away. Cruz followed behind and made it to her car. She led the way until they both arrived at Cruz's house. She rushed to pack up all her belongings. She stuffed all her clothes, shoes, and jewelry into two suitcases. Her pulse was racing as she ran out of the house with the suitcases. Lightning loaded both bags into the trunk of his car (not his race car, he was driving a red Dodge Viper) and they went to Radiator Springs. Lighting told Cruz to leave her car back at the house.

It was a long and quiet drive. Lightning made a few phone calls to inform Sally and other potential lawyers about the situation. When they arrived in the town, Sally was already outside the Cozy Cone Motel waiting to greet them. Both Lightning and Sally took Cruz inside to get her situated. They allowed her to stay in Lighting's old room (Cone #1) since he moved into a room with Sally.

* * *

Later that evening, Lightning and Sally were sitting on the couch in the main office watching the television on Sally's desk. Cruz was coming out of her room to get some water in the kitchen nearby. She stopped in her tracks once she heard them talking:

"Are you alright Stickers?" Sally asked, noticing that Lightning was in his own world.

"Huh? Oh I'm fine," he said as he continued to stare at the television screen.

"Lightning honey, you can talk to me. I don't like to see you like this," she said as she rubbed his back.

Lightning covered his face and started to sob. Cruz looked on in agony. In all her years of knowing her mentor, she's never seen him sob like that before. Sally gave him a tight hug as he cried into her chest. Cruz was about to turn back and head to her room when Lightning finally began to speak again:

"I knew something was wrong. She didn't call or text for months. I kept leaving her voice mails, hoping that she would listen to them and call me back."

"Lightning don't do this to yourself. You didn't know."

"I know that Sal, but I wanted to know! I could've protected her!" he yelled.

"You don't know that. The good thing is, she did reach out to you before it got worse."

"Sal, this has been going on for two years! God knows what Storm could've done to her!" he said as he punched the desk and paced around the room.

"Lightning calm down. She's here. She's safe now."

"I want to kill him Sal," he said as he made a fist.

"Lightning, don't do something that you would regret."

"I don't care Sal, I just want him dead for what he did to her! She didn't deserve this!" Lightning yelled as he dropped himself on the couch. All Sally could do was hug him and remind him that Cruz is safe. Cruz couldn't bear to watch this any longer. She ran back to her room, locked the door and sobbed on her bed.

 _This is the last thing that I wanted to happen. When will this nightmare end?_

* * *

The next morning, Cruz woke up to a loud commotion outside of her room. She rushed to the window to see what was going on. She almost fainted when she saw Jackson's car parked on the side of the road. He and Lighting were face to face. Lighting was grabbing Jackson by the jacket, pressing him up against the side of his own car. All of the townies crowded around them, waiting to hold Lightning back. He looked like he was about to kill Jackson. Surprisingly, Jackson was very calm. He just casually put his hands up while Lighting kept slamming him against the side of his car.

"I'm going to ask you one last time Champ. Where is my wife? I know she's here!" Jackson yelled.

"You don't deserve to call her that after what you did to her!" Lightning screamed.

"Look, I don't know what you're talking about!" Storm yelled back.

"You don't know what I'm talking about?! You put your hands on her!" Lightning screamed as he slammed Storm against the car again.

"Son, this ain't worth it. Just let him go," Sheriff said as he tried to get Lightning off of Jackson.

"No! Not after what he did to Cruz!"

Jackson gave Lightning a smug grin. "I didn't touch her," he whispered.

Lighting officially lost it. His eyes widened with rage. He made a fist and began to punch Jackson repeatedly. Sheriff, Sarge, Mater, and Fillmore ran and grabbed Lightning. Jackson was lying in a pool of blood on the hood of his car. His face was very swollen. He received a black eye, a bloody nose, and a busted lip. Flo, Sally, and Ramone helped Jackson off the hood and rushed him over to Flo's V8 Cafe. Sheriff, Sarge, Mater, and Fillmore rushed Lightning into Doc's garage. Cruz just stayed in her room for the rest of the day. After Flo and Sally treated Jackson's wounds, he left without saying another word about Cruz. The town has never seen Lightning that angry. It took hours for him to calm down. He stayed in Doc's garage until it got dark outside. Sally urged everyone to give him some space, but Cruz wanted to see him.

* * *

That night, she sneaked out of her room and ran to Doc's garage. She opened the door slowly and peeked through the small crack between the doors. She saw Lighting sitting on the floor, staring at the framed newspaper of Doc's crash.

"Mr. McQueen, is this a bad time? Can I come in?" she asked as she opened the door on the left side.

"Yeah sure. Come on in," he said in a soft tone.

She came in, turned on the lights, and sat down next to him on the floor. She looked at him as he continued to stare at the newspaper article. He was completely out of it.

"Mr. McQueen are you okay?"

"Yeah I'm fine. How are you feeling?" he asked as he turned to face her.

"I'm feeling better now. I want to thank both you and Sally for letting me stay here. I know this must've been a lot to take in."

"Cruz, you can stay here as long as you want. I want to make sure that you're safe. I'm sorry that you had to see that incident today. It all happened so fast. When I saw him, all I wanted to do was punch him in the face. This isn't like me at all." he said as he looked away from Cruz.

Cruz moved closer to Lightning and hugged his arm. She rested her head on his shoulder and started to smile.

"You know, you did something today that I never got to do in two years. He was always bigger and stronger than me so I never bothered to fight back. Whether you believe it or not, you avenged me Mr. McQueen. I am eternally grateful for that."

Lightning sat up and looked at Cruz. She lifted her head from his shoulder and stared at him.

"Come here," he said as he pulled her in for a hug. "You're going to be okay."

They hugged each other tightly. For the first time in four, long years, Cruz finally felt safe. She knew that Lightning and the rest of the townies would always have her back. No matter what the future held in store for her, she was confident that love would always prevail.


End file.
